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'Flowers' To Feature In Lindt Cafe Siege Memorial

Mike Baird Unveils Lindt Cafe Siege Memorial Design
A woman places a floral tribute at a temporary memorial site close to the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. An Iranian-born, self-styled cleric with a lengthy criminal history, burst into a downtown Sydney cafe on Monday wielding a shotgun, taking 17 people hostage. The siege ended 16 hours later when police stormed into the cafe to free the captives, two of whom were killed in a barrage of gunfire, along with the gunman. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
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A woman places a floral tribute at a temporary memorial site close to the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. An Iranian-born, self-styled cleric with a lengthy criminal history, burst into a downtown Sydney cafe on Monday wielding a shotgun, taking 17 people hostage. The siege ended 16 hours later when police stormed into the cafe to free the captives, two of whom were killed in a barrage of gunfire, along with the gunman. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

The NSW Government has unveiled the design of a permanent memorial to honour those who died in the Lindt Cafe siege.

The government has worked with the families of siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson to capture the defiant spirit of community that was shown in the wake of last year's tragedy.

Fairfax Media reports that the design chosen for the permanent memorial will showcase 400 flower symbols inlaid into the granite pavement of Martin Place.

The flower cubes will be inlaid across the pedestrian plaza and shine at night "in a starburst pattern" in the installation designed by Australian architect Richard Johnson,

Speaking on Sunday, Premier Mike Baird said the memorial would be a powerful tribute.

"What was most powerful about the flowers was a couple of things. It showed everyone across this city was prepared to stop what they were doing," he told reporters at Martin Place.

"They were prepared to say 'There is something more important than my priority'.

"It also said 'We are very proud of this city and that those that might want to come and bring hate, we have another message, we come together and respond in love'."

Hostages Dawson and Johnson were killed along with gunman Man Haron Monis in the Sydney CBD siege on December 16 2014.

The crisis ended when heavily armed police stormed the cafe in the early hours of the morning.

The families of Johnson and Dawson have been invited to take part in a public event in Martin Place on Tuesday night to commemorate the siege.

The Lindt Cafe building will reportedly be lit up for five nights with projections of the floral tribute and the thousands of messages laid at the site in the aftermath.

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